What a wonderful whirlwind of fun! We're unpacked here in the desert, but Hawaii lingers on. Ron said "write your wrap up" and I don't know where to begin. Remember how I can write a paragraph for a "yes or no" question? But here are some things that I'll be remembering...
FAMILY:
My favorite thing family-wise was making memories that will last a life-time. We got along great, enjoyed our family time, hung out together most of the ... Seeing Hawaii is wonderful, but seeing it with family is better. That's something we'll always share - those memories.
FAMILY:
My favorite thing family-wise was making memories that will last a life-time. We got along great, enjoyed our family time, hung out together most of the ... Seeing Hawaii is wonderful, but seeing it with family is better. That's something we'll always share - those memories.
It was nice traveling with the Witherspoons. Morgan was all the entertainment Nicole really needed! Michael was always smiling, happily taking pictures (which made me happy too - especially as he took longer than I did). :) Tricia gave the girls lots of great pool time and introduced me to the Lemon Drop. :-)
No, this guy isn't family, but this is what we could see when Tricia took us to the pool. :-) 
And Betty and Pete were great to travel with also - enthusiastic, pleasant, accomodating (like sitting on the beach so we could snorkel at Ke'e, or climbing Diamond Head with us). I do have a little twinge of discomfort that perhaps the REASON for the trip, Betty & Pete's anniversary, might be overshadowed by the LOCATION of the trip - but I'm hoping they are ok with it all. :-)
THE PLAN:
I'd like you to know... I enjoyed being your travel planner. :-) I did spend the first few days questioning myself if anyone ever seemed "less-than-blissfull" ... Until I realized (seems obvious NOW) that a plan for 8 people is necessarily a compromise at all times for all of them. But I think we gained a lot more than we lost by doing it (almost) all together - even the times we left the extra car behind to pile in together. Who can forget Nicole sleeping on the floor? :-) I mean this sincerely - thank you for cooperating with the plan and planner. :-) Thank you, Ron, for putting what I would dream up into action.
SCENERY & BEACHES:
For me, enjoying Hawaii is all about seeing the beautiful scenery and enjoying the various beaches. The scenery captivated me... add to that "family moments" and I took about 700 photos in 9 days... and still missed plenty of things. It's hard work for this detail girl to "edit" the photos down to a "rational" quantity! And as for the beaches, this beach-baby-who-lives-in-the-desert was in heaven, with gorgeous beaches all around - all shapes, types, colors, and feels... calm or rough waters, rocky or sandy shores, populated or desolate, blue or green waters... I loved them all!
FOOD:
Because I planned for activities and sights, I specifically did NOT plan eating ventures - figuring we'd eat wherever we found ourselves whenever it was time and we were hungry. That worked out amazingly well. We often had breakfast or lunch in the Betty & Pete's suite. Sometimes we ate by the pool or in the restaurants you could walk to by our hotel... I ate a LOT of seafood, trying to order local fish as often as possible, or maybe kahlua pig. And like Morgan said in her blog, after a long boatride when you're cold & salty-wet & hungry, even Burger King was "the best". :-) I also had a lot of GREAT pineapple and local Kauai coffee.
JEWELRY:
Ron told me to visit the jewelry kiosk set up at the hotel's outdoor balcony. Of course, when he'd seen it (the previous day), it was a different local vendor. The morning he told me and I went, it was a local vendor selling NICE stuff. Next thing you know, I'd bought Tricia's birthday gift, Betty's birthday gift, something for Nicole, something for me, ... Only Pete and Ron escaped the jewelry kiosk without anything (though they participate - financially). We took a "family photo" with the vendor and his wife. What does that tell you?
This is ring is Betty's birthday present. :-) (Nicole is modeling it for us.)
To all my travel mates, young and old... thank you for a wonderful trip. One of a kind.
Happy Anniversary, Betty & Pete!
Linda
Because I planned for activities and sights, I specifically did NOT plan eating ventures - figuring we'd eat wherever we found ourselves whenever it was time and we were hungry. That worked out amazingly well. We often had breakfast or lunch in the Betty & Pete's suite. Sometimes we ate by the pool or in the restaurants you could walk to by our hotel... I ate a LOT of seafood, trying to order local fish as often as possible, or maybe kahlua pig. And like Morgan said in her blog, after a long boatride when you're cold & salty-wet & hungry, even Burger King was "the best". :-) I also had a lot of GREAT pineapple and local Kauai coffee.
JEWELRY:
Ron told me to visit the jewelry kiosk set up at the hotel's outdoor balcony. Of course, when he'd seen it (the previous day), it was a different local vendor. The morning he told me and I went, it was a local vendor selling NICE stuff. Next thing you know, I'd bought Tricia's birthday gift, Betty's birthday gift, something for Nicole, something for me, ... Only Pete and Ron escaped the jewelry kiosk without anything (though they participate - financially). We took a "family photo" with the vendor and his wife. What does that tell you?
This is ring is Betty's birthday present. :-) (Nicole is modeling it for us.)
FLOWERS:
Being a lover of flowers and knowing how they are worn by tourists and locals alike, Nicole and I make it our thing to wear flowers, for at least some portion of time, every day in Hawaii. I saved Ron some money by packing kukui nuts and flower leis and hair clips from our last trip. :-) But I didn't just wear them - I "ooh-ed and agh-ed" over them everywhere I went. It amazed me to see "cool climate" flowers, like hydrangea in the wild, and yet also a yellow-flowering tree we also grow here in the desert. And every tropical, exotic flower you could imgine. I think Betty wanted to get her hands on some to play around arranging them!
Being a lover of flowers and knowing how they are worn by tourists and locals alike, Nicole and I make it our thing to wear flowers, for at least some portion of time, every day in Hawaii. I saved Ron some money by packing kukui nuts and flower leis and hair clips from our last trip. :-) But I didn't just wear them - I "ooh-ed and agh-ed" over them everywhere I went. It amazed me to see "cool climate" flowers, like hydrangea in the wild, and yet also a yellow-flowering tree we also grow here in the desert. And every tropical, exotic flower you could imgine. I think Betty wanted to get her hands on some to play around arranging them!
SURPRISED BY:
I knew I would enjoy the time with family, the scenery, and the flowers. But something DID surprise me this time... How much I enjoyed the ANIMALS. :-)
My two biggests "thrills" were animals! One was seeing a sea turtle when snorkeling - I got to follow it around for a while! (And I got to see several in the water at Spouting Horn.) And the other was seeing the seal that was sunbathing at Poipu the day we were there.
But there were a lot of other neat animals too - like the colorful fish when snorkeling. LOTS of them. They were brilliant and fun. And then there were the roosters and chickens and oodles of chicks everywhere on Kauai - also fun. And I got a sand crab (who did pinch me - no blood, though). And our resort on Kauai had lots of koi and ducks and the state bird, the nene (goose)... and our hotel also had a lizard in the bedroom of a young couple on Betty & Pete's floor. She wouldn't go in the room and he was standing on the dresser. They'd called housekeeping and were still waiting, seriously scared! I caught their little lizard - a relief for them, and the lizard, and fun for me (thank you, Bob). :-) And the luau property all those amazing peacocks to enjoy... but the sea turtle and the monk seal were my most surprising delights. And no, Ron, it's not the same as at the zoo - I clearly need to go back to Hawaii sometime. :-)
I knew I would enjoy the time with family, the scenery, and the flowers. But something DID surprise me this time... How much I enjoyed the ANIMALS. :-)
My two biggests "thrills" were animals! One was seeing a sea turtle when snorkeling - I got to follow it around for a while! (And I got to see several in the water at Spouting Horn.) And the other was seeing the seal that was sunbathing at Poipu the day we were there.
But there were a lot of other neat animals too - like the colorful fish when snorkeling. LOTS of them. They were brilliant and fun. And then there were the roosters and chickens and oodles of chicks everywhere on Kauai - also fun. And I got a sand crab (who did pinch me - no blood, though). And our resort on Kauai had lots of koi and ducks and the state bird, the nene (goose)... and our hotel also had a lizard in the bedroom of a young couple on Betty & Pete's floor. She wouldn't go in the room and he was standing on the dresser. They'd called housekeeping and were still waiting, seriously scared! I caught their little lizard - a relief for them, and the lizard, and fun for me (thank you, Bob). :-) And the luau property all those amazing peacocks to enjoy... but the sea turtle and the monk seal were my most surprising delights. And no, Ron, it's not the same as at the zoo - I clearly need to go back to Hawaii sometime. :-)
A little souvenir to remind me of those green sea turtles...
To all my travel mates, young and old... thank you for a wonderful trip. One of a kind.
Happy Anniversary, Betty & Pete!
Linda
I wore my birthday earrings last night...and I thought "I should take a picture for Linda". I'm starting to think like you :-) LOL.....think being the key word...didn't actually get a photo this time!
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